Sneaking past the loneliness
by sorafallenangel11
Summary: When the Doctor meets Martha, he's lonely. What if, after The Runaway Bride, the Doctor finds a new companion - Ressie Arzt has secrets up her sleeves and a tendency for sneaking about. How would the presence of someone else change the Doctor? Change the timelines? Change the story? Pre-Season 3 and re-write of Season 3 onward.
1. 1 - Meeting the Doctor: First Contact

**Hey guys. I've gotten really into Doctor Who lately and have been really enjoying some of the fanfictions I've read. I had an idea and after writing nearly 2000 words of a plan, I finally managed to translate my ideas into this chapter. The is a bit of a 'dive into the deep end' chapter, although the next few chapters give a bit more of a background and character study. Also, apologies for any OOC-ness of the Doctor in this story, in general.**

 **Alright then, hope you enjoy the story and please tell me what you think :)**

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 **Chapter 1 -** **Meeting the Doctor: First Contact**

Unfortunately, Reselda had never much been one for running. Oh, she'd done fine in PE at school and she'd aced whatever her father taught her, but running had always been the weak spot. She was beginning to regret it now. She'd been on the run for three weeks, making her way across the country, lying low and trying not to be caught as she tried to make her way to Glasgow, where her mothers cousin was expecting her.

She never made it that far.

They caught up to her one night, 23 days after they'd killed her parents, in a small village on the outskirts of Cheshire. She'd already been there a night and was planning to leave the next morning with the sun rise and the earliest train out of there. She'd chosen that village specifically because of the low population, rural setting and the Shaman that protected its people. He'd agreed to mask her presence there for the two nights she planned to stay in exchange for a bag of herbs she kept specifically for this purpose. However, the Shaman's fairly strong wards around the village ended up being nothing against the Aoubgerl, a warrior race from the Althosian system who, once they caught the scent of something, didn't give up until they'd caught their prey. With Earth being a level five planet, this sort of hunting was banned but, as she'd found out fairly quickly, the Aoubgerl weren't interested in listening to the Shadow Proclamation, something she'd been silently despairing over for weeks now in an attempt to ignore her grief. If they were the sort to listen to galactic laws, she never would have been in this position in the first place.

"Thanks." Reselda said to the bartender as the older woman put a glass of lemonade in front of her, smiling politely. She'd spent the night in one of the rooms above the pub and, over the last day and a half, had gotten to know the bartender pretty well. She'd just picked up the glass to take a sip when a man burst through the door.

"The-th-these things just came through the woods! They've already shot Darren!" The man was waving his arms about as he shouted, getting everyone's attention. "We have to leave, they're heading straight for here! Get out, now! RUN!" He didn't wait around much longer after that, running back out the door, presumably to go tell everyone else in the vicinity to run. The pub was left in a state of chaos, with everyone running for the doors as quickly as they could; after the ghosts-turned-Cybermen a few months ago and as a superstitious lot anyway, they knew better than to ignore a warning to get out and get out fast. Reselda was one of them, only, instead of running in the opposite direction of the woods with everyone else she veered off to the left, circling back towards the woods and where the man had said the 'things' were. It didn't take long till she found them. They were tall, taller than most humans at about 6'6, with long hair that looked like it had been sprouted from everywhere on their bodies. The only thing you could see through the hair was their dark red eyes and their hands, which were holding peculiar-looking guns. They were the Aoubgerl, as she'd feared - the Shaman's wards hadn't been strong enough against the experienced warrior race, despite what she'd hoped.

"Gggrrr - hmp - grr"

She startled at the loud noises coming from the aliens and almost cried out in shock when she saw that they'd grabbed hold of a family, a man and woman holding their two kids behind them fearfully, all of them shaking from head to toe. The Aoubgerl were attempting to communicate and the humans couldn't understand a word they were saying, although she had some idea, seeing as they were after her. Seeing one of the aliens raise their gun towards the family, Reselda took a deep breath and prepared to step forward, ready to give herself up. If it meant saving this family, this entire village, she'd let her three week run be in vain. After all, they were there to kill her, although she'd be damned if she didn't take them with her into the afterlife.

She never got the chance.

All she felt was a breeze as someone ran past her, a blue and brown blur hurtling towards the captured family and the Aoubgerls.

"Hey now, there's no need for that is there?" The crazy man seemed to admonish the Aoubgerl as he got nearer. She sneaked around the corner she'd hidden herself, trying to get closer to the crazy man and scared family without being seen by the Aoubgerl. Almost as if the man knew what she was doing, he began talking again.

"You know, it is really illegal for you to be here - Earth is a level five planet and this goes against the Shadow Proclamation." He took a rather loud breath. "Only, you don't care about that, do you? You're warriors, hunters. You've caught the scent of someone you want and you're not going to stop until you've caught up to them." His eyes flicked quickly to hers, so fast she almost missed it. "BUT!" The Aoubgerl almost seemed to jump at the loud noise and the scared family behind the crazy man definitely did. "That's illegal too. And now, I've got to stop you."

She had just reached the family and caught the eye of the father as the man continued his speech, effectively distracting the Aoubgerl. She jerked her head towards the back and started walking backwards slowly, still crouched low to the ground so she remains unseen. The father quietly ushered the children towards her first and they easily take her hands when she holds them out. Slowly, silently, she begins moving away, towards the relative safety of the buildings before she looks back to find the mum and dad moving back really slowly, waiting for a chance to get away. The mum catches Reselda's eye as they continued to move to the side and the desperation in her green eyes was almost enough for Reselda to go and give herself up to the Aoubgerl despite the crazy man putting a wrench in her plans. But then she remembered she had the couple's children and had to get them to safety first; that was the priority.

"And now, I'm sorry about this, we're going to have to leave you."

She'd gotten the children behind a house at this point and turned around just in time to see the crazy man point a small metal stick with a blue glowing end at the aliens. She almost shook her head at him - that wasn't going to fool them.

And then the leaders gun blew up.

In the smoke and noise that followed, the crazy man ushered the man and woman in their direction, even though he couldn't have possibly known that was where they were, and the three adults began running. Not wanting to wait and see just how long the little explosion had stunned the Aoubgerl for, she picked up the younger child - no older than five - grabbing the older child's hand and running as fast as she dared.

"Just, stay quiet, alright? We don't want them catching up." She told them quietly.

The child in her arms sobbed, snuffling wetly against her neck.

"Hey, it's alright, little one. Your parents are right behind us." She whispered in his ear. She didn't dare look back to make sure, however. She just kept running.

They were almost to the pub she'd ran out of what seemed like lifetimes ago but couldn't have actually been more than fifteen minutes when the three adults caught up to them. The little girl who had been running steadily beside her ran straight for her father, not seeming to care about the destruction around them now her parents were in sight. The little boy in her arms, however, didn't notice his mother moving closer as his head was still buried in her neck, until she jiggled him slightly in her arms.

"Hey, little one, your mummy's here. I think she wants to see you."

His head snapped up at her words, his face scrunching up as he continued to cry, reaching his arms out towards his mother. She took him into her arms gracefully, already rocking side to side to calm him down.

"Thank you." The mother whispered gratefully, looking up at her with tears shining in her eyes.

"Oh, its - " Reselda couldn't help but avoid her gaze. "It's fine, honestly."

However, when she moved her eyes from the older woman's, her gaze was inadvertently caught in that of the crazy man with the glowing stick. Quickly, she looked back at the reuniting family. His eyes were too old; much too old for his face.

"Right then!" The sudden clapping of hand startled all of them and they all looked over towards the crazy man. However, before he could talk, the father stepped up, his daughter cradled securely in his arms.

"Excuse me, sir, but do you know what those monsters are?" He was scared, they could all tell, although the feeling was mutual.

"Ah, weeellll..." The man seemed to debate whether or not to tell them, tilting his hand side to side as he muttered to himself, too quietly for any of the others to hear.

"Um, sorry, but shouldn't we still be running?" She couldn't help but interrupt, keeping her gaze over the mans shoulder in the direction they'd all just run from.

"Oh, we've still got about three minutes before they recover. The smoke released from their guns is a paralytic - brilliant, right?" His grin was like a little kids, looking for approval from their parents. "Anyway, those are Aoubgerl, from the Althosian system. Boy, are they a long way from home."

She couldn't believe he seemed almost excited about the prospect of Aoubgerl on Earth.

"But why are they here?" The father questioned.

"Well, they're a warrior race, very interested in blood sport." When he saw confused faces staring at him, he elaborated. "They're hunters - they use scent to find something - or someone - they want and hunt them across the galaxies. They must be after someone in this town."

She couldn't stop the agonised gasp escaping her mouth at that - she had done this. Of course, she already knew that, but to hear it from someone else's mouth just made it worse. This town was under attack, people had been hurt, because she'd stopped here. It was her fault.

"Who are you, to know such things?" The mother asked this time, still holding her son close.

"Oh, right. I'm the Doctor."

They didn't have a chance to react to his declaration as immediately after, he looked over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes and seemed to see something she couldn't.

"RUN!" Then he started running.

Automatically, Reselda took off after him as fast as she could, only turning back once to make sure the family was following them. The crazy man - or Doctor, as he called himself - was right behind her and as she faced forward once again, forcing herself to run faster, she felt him grab her hand. Looking over, she saw a wide grin that split his face directed towards her and she couldn't help but laugh at him. His grin only grew wider at the sound. As they continued to run, she let him lead her as she studied him as quickly as she could. He was wearing a blue - almost navy, but not quite - pinstriped suit with a long brown coat and red converse shoes. It was an outfit that definitely suited his 'crazy man' look.

She was startled out of her observations when the man - the Doctor, came to an abrupt stop and she banged into his back, her head suddenly aching as it hit a shoulder bone. When the Doctor didn't even make a sound at the impact, she closed her eyes, feeling a sinking feeling in her gut. Swallowing the fear that threatened to consume her, she slowly peaked around the Doctor's arm, tightening her hold on his hand subconsciously.

"Well... wasn't really expecting this." He quipped.

Seeing the group of Aoubgerl in front of them, she cast her mind back to their first encounter with the aliens at the woods.

"There were only eight of them." Reselda whispered. "They hunt in two groups of fifteen - the scavengers and the hunters. There were only eight of them at the woods - these are the other seven."

"But where are the other fifteen?" The Doctor whispered back to her.

Not deigning to answer, she changed her grip on his hand so she could be the one to pull and began to run to the right, away from the group in front and the group undoubtedly approaching them from behind.

"The other group is still around here somewhere, you know." The Doctor didn't seem worried, however, despite his statement. "And we left that family behind a little while ago." That statement is what brought her up short, before she shook her head and resumed running.

"There isn't another group; they're dead." She told him as coldly as she could. "And the Aoubgerl won't go after the family anymore." She hoped he'd leave it at that.

No such luck.

"And why not?"

"Because they've found me."


	2. 2 - Meeting the Doctor: Leaving it all B

**Chapter 2 - Meeting the Doctor: Leaving it all behind.**

He didn't waste a moment after that, sprinting ahead so quickly that he was almost dragging her behind him. They ran through abandoned street after abandoned street and in the back of her mind she wondered where all the residents had gone. The Doctor didn't stop running until they'd once again reached the woods, although this area was a little ways off from where they were first confronted with the Aoubgerl. He dragged Reselda into the treeline, stopping when they were a few yards in before he turned to her, caging her effortlessly up against the nearest tree. She pressed her hands against his chest, ready to push him off her at any moment.

"Why-how are the second group dead? There was no need to kill them!" The Doctor sounded angry, although his eyes looked conflicted - like he already knew why they were dead. "You didn't have to kill them - you're so young, only what? 18? 19?" She stayed resolutely silent at his barrage of questions. "You aren't a murderer." He told her, sure of it, even though he had only just met her; her eyes were still young.

Looking up at him, Reselda stared into his eyes, unsure whether to trust him.

"I didn't kill them. My father did." His eyes were trustworthy and so was the beating of his two hearts under her palms. "The first group, the scavengers, they broke into my home and killed my mum and my baby brother and killed my dad after too." She looked into his eyes properly for the first time since they'd met. "But he took all fifteen of them down with him. I was the only one to leave the house that morning." She saw sorrow in his eyes as she continued to talk. "And I ran away, because there are always hunters that follow the scavengers. I've been on the run for 23 days. They've followed me from Bristol - to Swansea to Reading to Norwich to Coventry to Nottingham to Birmingham to Cheshire!" Her voice got steadily louder as she listed the places she'd stopped at in her attempt to escape the hunters. "I've zigzagged this country to throw them off my trail and this is the only time they've ever caught up to me and, from what I can tell, the only time they've hurt anyone." She told him before he could even think of admonishing her for putting people in danger in her dash across the country.

His eyes were sad as he continued to look down at her, even as he backed off slightly so she could wiggle away from the tree so she was standing tall - or as tall as she could be at barely over five foot tall - in front of the man. He looked away from her after a moment, over his shoulder and deeper into the woods.

"Aright then, Sneaky. Allons-y!" He declared, grabbing her hand again as he began to run off deeper into the woods.

"What? Why are you speaking French? And Sneaky!?" She shouted at him over the sudden rush of wind in her ears as they continued to run.

"Well, it suits you." Was his only answer and she swore, when they had finally stopped running, she'd stomp on his foot for that comment.

Only, it took a while for her to remember that promise as, when they stopped running, it was because they'd come up to a blue box; it was the same colour as the Doctor's suit, with little boxes carved into the door. The windows near the top were glowing with a white light and Reselda's curiosity was peaked. After taking a moment to study her expression and seeing only curiosity as she stared at his spaceship, the Doctor easily fit the key into the lock and took another moment to appreciate the awe that overcame Reselda's face as the door opened to reveal his TARDIS. This was his favourite part.

The girl shook her head, rearranging her thoughts and he watched on in amusement from just inside the TARDIS as she took a step back to look at the exterior before leaning forward to have another look inside.

"It's bigger on the inside!"

OK, he lied; this was his favourite part; Reselda' wide eyed look as she entered the TARDIS, hardly blinking as she took in the coral struts and the main console, peering down the corridor that led to the other parts of the ship.

"Welcome to the TARDIS." He said grandly. "My spaceship."

Her mouth dropped open at the announcement, although he didn't detect any disbelief at his statement. He watched in a sort of - proud amusement as she reached a hand out when she finally reached the console, laying her palm on a flat bit of metal. She jumped after a second and he laughed out loud at the amused hum the TARDIS gave; he could only guess that the metal had heated up, the TARDIS playing games with the newcomer. The hum of amusement in the back of his mind only corroborated that.

"Yeah, she does that. She likes to tease newbies." He told Reselda casually as he walked past her to the centre console, placing himself in front of the screen he used to see what was going on outside, completely ignoring her confusion. Flicking a switch near the screen, he turned on the exterior scanner and an image soon appeared on screen.

"Come over here - oh, I haven't asked your name. You haven't told me your name. What's your name?" He rambled at her, suddenly remembering that her name was not, in fact, Sneaky. "How rude of me. Rude and not ginger." He muttered to himself as she inched towards him, still looking around.

"Oh, um, I'm Reselda. Reselda Arzt." She introduced herself and he laughed slightly when she extended a hand, the gold chain bracelet around her wrist rattling slightly. Smiling widely, he took her hand and shook it with all his might.

"It's lovely to meet you Ressie. I can call you Ressie, can't I?" He didn't wait for her to reply, instead letting go of her hand and turning back to the monitor. From the corner of his eye, he watched her do the same, even though the look on her face was definitely confusion.

"Um, you can." She told him quietly. "No one ever has before though." She murmured, probably thinking he didn't hear her and he grinned - he loved giving people new nicknames, although he didn't often get the chance.

"Right then, Ressie, lets set up a perimeter alert..." He trailed off as he fiddled around with the console. "And turn the long-range scanners on..." Letting out a whoop of success, he pressed the little purple button hidden in the mess of levers and buttons he'd been fiddling with. "And hey presto!"

"Um, what does that do?" Reselda's soft voice said suddenly and he spun around to face her, still grinning widely.

"Well, the alert will tell us when the Aoubgerl reach the TARDIS." He grabbed her hand again. "And the long-range scanner increases accuracy and ensures that we aren't caught by surprise." He started to lead her down the corridor, towards what he hoped was the library - also, at it happened, where he kept a lot of his miscellaneous technology. "And whilst we wait for them to reach us - thank goodness they are so slow, right? Always so reliant on their noses -" He cut himself off with a shake of the head and led her into the library, thankfully on his first try. "We are going to find the transporter gun I've got lying around here somewhere." He ignored her incredulous look. "And I think a sense scrambler would be a good idea as well..." He trailed off again as he let go of her hand, wandering off to begin his search.

"What should I do?" She called out to him as he disappeared around a corner. The only reply she got was the wave of a hand that suddenly reappeared from the corner and she sighed loudly when it disappeared again. Looking around the room properly, she once again felt the awe that, honestly, hadn't gone away since she'd stepped on the spaceship. If the crazy man - The Doctor, was to be believed anyway; she still wasn't entirely sure she hadn't been caught by the Aoubgerl and wasn't just seeing this entire adventure as a sort of Near-Death-Experience type thing. Except she was actually dying...God, that was a depressing thought. She forced herself to shake it off and determinedly told herself that this was real. Or as real as a bigger-on-the-inside spaceship could be.

Still lost in her thoughts, she slowly wandered off herself, turning round a different corner to the Doctor and taking in the rows and rows of shelves, all of them filled with books, that completely filled the room, as far as the eye could see. She may as well contribute to his search for the -what had he called it? transporter gun? and sense scrambler? she told herself. They would probably be useful, from what she could guess from their names and so much easier on her conscious than killing them (if she wasn't already dead, a little voice in the back of her mind taunted. She shooed it away).

 _Although_ , she considered to herself, tilting her head, _I would be dead as well if I'd killed them,_ _there's no way I'd survive fighting all fifteen of them, even my dad didn't manage that_.

Pushing aside the grief that thought pushed into her heart, she shook her head and headed towards a cardboard box tucked between two shelves. It was slightly dusty but she just blew it off with a scrunched nose. She didn't have a clue what the things she was looking for looked like and the Doctor had given no direction whatsoever, although she could guess that he hadn't seen the transporter gun, at least, for a while and in that case, a dusty box seemed like a good idea.

It wasn't. All she found was a bunch of old crockery - plates and mugs and bowls. Not stuff you'd usually keep in a library. So she continued her search, looking into every box, every nook and cranny and anything that looked like it might hold an advanced piece of technology. And that's the one thing she couldn't seem to find - she found three old hunting rifles, an extremely long multi-coloured scarf, the last three books in the Harry Potter series, seven mugs of half-drank tea and what seemed like six dozen bananas. Everything else she'd found looked like scrap metal. And, from what she could tell, she'd been searching for nearly an hour. And she was hopelessly lost; she'd never realised that a library could be so large.

Finally deciding that it was time to try and find the exit, she turned another corner, furrowing her brows when she saw a stack of boxes against a wall that, surprisingly, didn't have a bookcase on it. Curiosity peeked, she opened the top box in the pile and her mouth fell open when she found an old leather jacket and navy jumper. Moving them aside carefully, making sure they didn't touch the floor, Reselda felt even more confused when she saw a battered copy of _Great Expectations_ by _Charles Dickens_ one that was, she found, signed and addressed to someone called Rose. Closing the cover carefully, she pursed her lips.

 _Rose must have been someone special to him, if he kept this._ She thought to herself.

Shaking the thought away, she saw a bag of teabags, a birthday card and a little jewellery box that she didn't dare open. Not seeing anything even near resembling what she thought a transporter gun may look like, she packed everything back up, taking care to fold the jumper and leather jacket neatly so they didn't crease. Moving that box to the floor a little ways behind her, she opened the next box. The first thing she saw was a diary, the pages bursting out from between the covers. Finding that way too personal to look through, despite her curiosity, she cringed away from rifling through the rest of the box, let alone the other five. She steeled herself though - it was important that they found these gadgets, or whatever they were.

It wasn't until box four that she hit the jackpot - pulling out a fairly large chrome gun-shaped device that had been lying diagonally along the bottom of the box, she lifted it gingerly, aware that she had no clue how it worked. Stamped on the end was a bunch of numbers, a serial code presumably, and a factory name, _Teleporter Technologies._ Making yet another face to herself, she assumed that this was the transporter gun. Turning it over in her hands, making sure not jostle anything, her suspicions were confirmed when she found a sticky label on the side, near the assumed shooting end.

"Teleporter Gun. Dangerous. Humans, please don't touch it." She read out loud, giggling at the almost desperate plea that seemed to come through even in writing. Pleased with her discovery, she cautiously leaned it against the wall and packed everything back into the box. Deciding to take a perfunctory glance through the rest of the boxes, she was disappointed when she didn't see anything else that may be a sense scrambler. Shrugging to herself, still pleased with finding the transporter gun, she picked it up, making sure the shooting end was facing the side, so she didn't shoot herself or, hopefully, the Doctor when she finally found him.

It was another good fifteen minutes before she did find him and by then her feet were starting to ache and her arms were going numb. Even though she'd been on the run for over three weeks, she'd spent a lot of it alternating between buses and trains, with minimal walking and after all the running she'd done today, she was sure her calves would be burning tomorrow.

Hearing footsteps approaching him and surprised that Ressie had managed to find him, the Doctor looked up at the young woman as she rounded the corner. Seeing the tired look in her eyes and determined to make this all go away for the poor girl, he looked back at the box he had been scrabbling through, throwing a defunct sonic blaster over his shoulder in annoyance. He had found the sense scrambler fairly easily, as he had only procured it a couple of years ago and he could remember where he'd put that. He grimaced guiltily to himself as remembered how he'd left Ressie by herself at the entrance, although he had been pretty sure she'd either stay put or follow him. When he hadn't seen her after finding the sense scrambler he'd assumed she'd stayed near the entrance. Shaking his head quickly to clear his mind - as much as he could, what with his higher processing power - he sighed loudly as the bottom of the box came into view.

"Is this what you were looking for?" A smug voice asked.

He jumped at the sound of metal hitting wood and looked up in surprise.

"What?! How did you find that?!" He asked Ressie loudly. He couldn't believe it! He'd been looking for that for an hour.

"Well, you just left me at the door and I figured I'd go in the opposite direction and look for the transporter gun and sense scrambler things." She said proudly, patting the transporter gun. "And this had a label on it." She told him, giggling slightly.

Still in disbelief, the Doctor shook his head as he jumped to his feet. He couldn't believe it! Another companion that wandered off - he cut himself off before that thought could go any farther; she wasn't his companion. Although... No, it would have to wait. They had to get rid of the Aoubgerl before he could entertain that idea seriously.

"That's rule number one, Ressie. No wandering off." He told her sternly. If there was even any chance she was going to travel with him, it would do his hearts good to start her on the rules early.

"Well, thanks for telling me." Reselda told him sarcastically. He just shook his head at her.

"Alright then!" He shouted suddenly. Reselda jumped at the sudden noise. "I found the sense scrambler and you found the transporter gun. Now all we've got to do is -" The sound of low, long beeping filled the air and a smile split the doctors face. "There it is! The Aoubgerl have found us." Gesturing for her to grab the transporter gun, he grabbed her free hand in his and started running. "Time to go!" He shouted as they turned a corner.

By the time they reached the console room Reselda was breathing heavily and even the Doctor was feeling a bit tired - it really had been a long day and he hadn't had any sleep for over a week. But it was almost over and afterwards, they would both be able to rest.

"Alright then." He spoke mostly to himself. Hearing a hum of acknowledgement from the girl behind him, he smiled; he'd forgotten how lonely it got just by himself. "The Aoubgerl are circling the TARDIS. They can't smell you in here, but this is where your scent trail stops so they know you're in here." He told Ressie matter of factually. "What we need to do is gather them in one group," he began to outline the plan as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver, turning it to the right setting to extend the range of the two gadgets, which he did easily. "Once I've gotten them with the sense scrambler, you need to just blast them with the transport gun. The scrambler will mean that their senses are confused and they'll loose your scent so they won't come looking for you and I'll set the transporter so that it sends them to an uninhabited planet with plenty of non-sentient wildlife. They should be fine there and without their ship, they won't be able to come back to earth." He was rather pleased with his plan. He thought it was pretty good. He was glad Ressie agreed, if her nodding was anything to go by.

"Right." Reselda said, still nodding. "But how do we get them in one place?"

"Oh that's easy." The Doctor said, not looking at her. He let the silence carry on for a moment, feeling slightly guilty about the danger she'd be facing. It was definitely for the best, however - he wouldn't be enough to distract them and, well, she was the one they were after.

"I'm going to have to be bait, aren't I?" She sounded resigned.

"Yep." He was glad he didn't have to spell it out for her. It would make travelling with her easier, that's for sure.

"Oh, great." She sighed and he looked up as she went to the doors. He was silent as she fiddled with the blaster, obviously trying to find the best way to hide it. Lucky for her, the Aoubgerl - although having a phenomenal sense of smell - didn't have the best eyesight. "Well, if this all goes wrong, it was nice to know you." She told him. Reaching out for the door, she suddenly looked back. "And if it does go wrong, just leave. Because they'll kill me, but I'll be following all fifteen of them into the afterlife." Her grin was vicious and the Doctor froze at the sudden change - he definitely hadn't expected that.

He was still silent as Reselda opened the door to the TARDIS, closing it softly behind her. The latch catching was what brought him out of his daze and he jumped onto his tiptoes to get back into the game; no way was he leaving her behind. And he wasn't letting her kill them; she was much too young to carry that burden. Not willing to take that chance though, he quickly focused on the monitor showing what was happening outside. Ressie had managed to make her way to a spot a few meters from the TARDIS, although the Doctor thought one of his hearts was going to stop when he saw she was striding up to one of the Aoubgerl. He blinked in surprise when she pushed the flat of her palm into his back and the alien doubled over, letting out a guttural growl. From what he could tell, Ressie had barely touched the Aoubgerl - how did that cause such pain? Something niggled in the back of his mind, but he pushed it away so he could concentrate on what was in front of him.

Looking back at the screen, he watched as the growl attracted the attention of all fourteen of the Aoubgerl; he blinked at the genius of Ressie. The Aoubgerl were pack hunters and close ones at that. If one of them was hurt, they tended to cover the injured and if they had to, retreated to heal before starting the hunt at full force again. Injuring one of them, as dangerous as it could turn out to be, was a smart move to make them all gather together. Although, it was definitely a recipe for potential disaster, with the odds stacked against the human.

When the Aoubgerl started congregating, Reselda grabbed a strap of the tunic the Aoubgerl she'd injured was wearing, dragging him with her until she was standing with her back against a tree.

"If you want your pack mate back, get in front of me. All of you!" She shouted as the Aoubgerl advanced on her. Seeing an opening, the Doctor grabbed the sense scrambler from one of his pockets, glad that it only took a quick search of two pockets to find it and made his way to the door. Opening it as quietly as he could, he stepped out into the clearing and, when he saw Ressie push the fifteenth Aoubgerl into the group in front of her, he aimed the scrambler at the group, watching as a bright light exploded in the air above them. Quickly, they all shook their heads, scrambling around and growling at each other in confusion.

Hearing the whine of a sonic weapon, he watched in quiet satisfaction as, all of a sudden, the Aoubgerl disappeared from the clearing. Looking across the suddenly empty field, he met the satisfied eyes of one Reselda Arzt and smiled.

"We did it!"

He laughed at the joy in her voice and laughed openly as she ran across to him, dropping the transporter gun to grass and throwing her arms around his neck. He automatically wrapped his arms around her back before he paused. He hadn't hugged anyone like this since Rose. He'd forgotten how much he liked it, how much more tactile this body was in comparison to the last few. He felt a bit of the loneliness he'd felt like a cloud over his head the last few months start to clear. Oh, he hoped she'd agree to travel with him.

"Oh, sorry." She told him sheepishly when she pulled back. "I should have made sure you were OK with that first."

He smiled brightly at her, even more resolute in his decision. He did love a considerate companion and, he thinks, he needs one now.

"Ressie." He said, taking her hands and laughing slightly at her startled expression. "How would you like to see the stars?"

"What...do you mean?"

"I mean, do you want to come with me? I mean," He started rambling "You are an adult and you said your family is gone. And you've been brilliant, honestly, dealing with those Aoubgerl just now and even the fact that you managed to outrun them for three weeks." He didn't see the look in her eyes as he avoided looking directly at her face. "You know, its not only a spaceship - it travels to every planet in the universe, at any time we want; it travels through time as well. That's why its called the TARDIS, that is, Time And Relative Dimension In Space." He winced - it was starting to sound more and more like a sales pitch. Well, he always did find asking a bit awkward, especially as he hadn't actually asked anyone in this body yet. "And its bit difficult to pilot the TARDIS and get a cuppa at the same time; an assistant would be nice." He almost kicked himself for saying that - Rose definitely hadn't been an assistant and he wasn't going to make the same mistakes he had in some of his previous regeneration's. He wanted a companion, not an assistant.

"Well, I haven't had a good cup of tea in almost four weeks, so I can forgive that comment if it means I have access to a kitchen." Her voice was happy and when he looked up, he saw undeniable excitement in Ressie's eyes.

He raised an eyebrow at her. She still hadn't answered his question.

"Well, as long as I can call my cousin first, I would love to travel with you." She told him as solemnly as she could. Honestly, it was possibly the best offer she'd ever had. A ship, that looked like a box, could travel through time and space. Well, she'd have to see it to believe it, but she was willing to try. Even if he didn't... She pushed it out of her mind. She'd tell him - soon. As soon as she was sure she could trust him.

"Of course you can call your cousin. We could even visit him if you wanted." He told her - he would not be meeting this cousin, but he'd drop her off for a visit.

She grinned at him when he said that and without waiting for him ran towards the TARDIS. Pushing the door open, she walked in, peeking back at him when he didn't immediately follow her in.

"Coming?" She asked, a cheeky grin on her face.

Grinning, the Doctor followed her through the doors. Oh, he was going to enjoy this.


	3. 3 - Interlude:Domestics

**Chapter 3 - Interlude: Domestics**

The TARDIS landed in a short alleyway two streets away from Kasen Grimaldi's house. The trip had been a silent one, since it had lasted only about five minutes. Opening the TARDIS door for a quick peak outside, not sure if she should believe they'd travelled all the way to Scotland from Cheshire in five minutes. Reselda's eyebrows raised when she saw the park she always used to play in whenever her mother visited her cousin. Turning back to the Doctor, who was grinning at her from the Console, she said the first thing that came to mind:

"It really does travel through space."

It wasn't really what she wanted to say, but what else was there? Although she had definitely wanted to believe him when he said it could travel through time and space, she hadn't been sure she had. And although the whole travelling through time thing could still be untrue, there was now no denying that the TARDIS travelled through space.

"Of course it does. Didn't you believe me?" The Doctor sounded offended, although the grin on his face kind of ruined it. "Anyway!" He clapped his hands suddenly and she jumped at the noise. "It is the 23rd November, 2007 and the time is..." He puttered around the console for a moment. "17:49. Just in time for tea." He seemed very pleased with himself, she noted. "Go on, go see your cousin. Be back before dark and I'll take you somewhere brilliant." He told her enthusiastically and she couldn't stop the grin from splitting her face as she ran up to him and threw her arms around his waist.

"Thank you." She told him sincerely. His grin softened at that and he squeezed her around the shoulders. The spark he'd seen in her in that rural village in Cheshire was still there, burning under the surface, but it was tempered by something; something he couldn't recognise just yet. Whatever it was, however, made him like her even more - she was unique and that was something he needed in a companion. Yet more in her favour, she was nothing like Rose, not in any way beyond plain old human nature.

He was brought out of his thoughts when the human in his arms pulled away and, with one more smile in his direction, bounded towards the TARDIS doors.

"You'll be right here, yeah? No moving?" Reselda clarified.

"Yeah, no moving for me." He smiled at her. "I'm just going to fix the library. I may - just maybe, mind - have done a bit of damage in my search for the teleporter gun yesterday." He winced at the flickering lights - the TARDIS wasn't the happiest with him for the mess he'd made.

"Alright. I'll be back in a few hours." Her smirk told him exactly what she thoughts about his hunt through the library yesterday and he just smiled as she left, closing the door carefully behind her, before he moved on towards the library. He'd told the truth - he had made a mess yesterday and he was definitely going to clean it up, but first, he needed to do something. Taking of his jacket, the Doctor prepared himself for yet another long search.

Meanwhile, Reselda had made her way down the street and was almost to her cousin's door, going over in her head what she was going to tell her cousin. Despite that, when she finally reached Kasen's door, she still had no idea what she would tell him. She going feel her pulse quicken as she heard the lock click and watched as the door opened to reveal her cousins face.

"Hi." She told him, her voice slightly squeaky. She winced to herself; it was a major tell she hadn't been able to train out of herself yet. Her voice always gave her away. And Kasen knew that. With a sigh, he opened the door all the way.

"What have you done now?" The whole sentence sounded like one long sigh. That was the thing about Kasen - he was brilliant, but only when he wanted to be. Usually, he was just lazy. He was a herbalist by trade and made enough money to live comfortably by selling them to various shamans all over the world and it was the sort of job where one mainly had to sit around and watch plants grow - something he had obviously chosen for that reason. The problem with this was that he would never understand why she'd want to go off on an adventure around the universe with a man she'd just met; the good thing was he wouldn't be bothered to stop her.

"Weeellll..." She started. And once she'd started, she couldn't stop, telling him all about her run up and down the country. Of course, he'd already known she was on her way up, as she's called him as soon as her parents had died, but he'd had no idea when this would happen. Once she got up to the part where the Aoubgerl had caught up to her, his expression hardened slightly and she was amazed at the change in her lazy cousin. His arm wrapped around her shoulders as the story continued and his grip only tightened when she told him about the strange man with the blue box and two hearts.

He let her finish her story before he said anything.

"Well, that's complicated." It was said in a deadpan and she rolled her eyes at him as she got up and wandered into the kitchen. She could hear him come up behind her as she filled the kettle and set about preparing a cup of tea.

"Want one?" She asked over her shoulder.

"May as well." Was his reply, before he disappeared through the door. She could hear him mutter to himself as he went into his study, even over the noise of the boiling kettle. She left him to it and just concentrated on the tea-making. She hadn't been lying when she'd told the Doctor she hadn't had a decent cup of tea in weeks.

"Well, this Doctor is probably a Time Lord." The sudden voice was the only sign Kasen had returned from his study.

"What's a Time Lord?" She asked him, picking up the two mugs of finished tea and taking them into the living room.

"An alien." Was his deadpan answer.

"No, really?" She replied sarcastically.

"They have two hearts and travel about in spaceships equipped with Time Lord technology - " He looked up at her "Its bigger on the inside. Time Lords are the only race with this technology, although its one of three races with two hearts." Kasen told her. "There have only been a few Time Lords that interact with humans and the Doctor seems to be one of the most prominent; he's popping up mainly since the 60's."

"How do you know this?" She asked incredulously, taking a sip of tea.

"There's this little thing called internet, Reselda." He told her, tapping the side of his head. "This Doctor of yours has picked up a bit of renown." She frowned at him slightly. They fell into silence after that, both of them enjoying their tea.

"He calls me Ressie." She told him suddenly.

"Its a good nickname." He told her calmly.

"Nobody's ever called me that before."

"Maybe its time for a change."

She fell silent again.

"Do you think its a good idea, travelling with him? Even though I haven't told him, maybe someone will recognise..."

"You can tell him you know. Time Lords, whilst kind of high and mighty, are pretty open-minded."

"So you think I should travel with him?"

"Reselda, I think its entirely up to you."

"But you are technically my legal guardian."

"Technically, you're considered missing possibly dead. You haven't been seen in over three weeks remember and this is the first I've heard of you in just as long."

"So the only one to actually miss me if I did go would be you."

"I knew you'd go off one day, Reselda. Its written in the stars."

"Heh, that's what mum used to say. That my destiny is written in the starts."

"She was right you know. My destiny has always been written in the Earth. Yours has always been in the stars."

Reselda looked at Kasen then.

"I'm starting to see why you were mum's favourite." She told him seriously.

"Oh, there was always more than one reason." He replied flippantly, laughing slightly as he got up off the sofa. He reached out a hand and she grabbed it, letting him pull her off the sofa and into his arms for a hug. "I love you Reselda and you are going to do great things." He pulled away to look into her eyes. "But that doesn't mean you can't keep in touch. You'll stop by Earth occasionally, make sure to drop in on your favourite cousin." He was serious, she knew and when she nodded she was serious too - she wasn't just going to leave him. She was the only family he had left in England - everyone else in the Grimaldi family was spread across the world and spread thin at that, with more and more disappearing into other family lines or being killed for their special talents.

"The Grimaldi family is small, but strong, and you're no different." Kasen continued. "You are so much like your dad that Thyra never properly trained you in our ways, but use what you do know to stay alive." He told her passionately. "And always make sure to come back, even when you find your proper home."

The thing about Kasen was that he was one of the strongest seers the Grimaldi family had ever produced and although he tended to just ignore what he knew, he never forgot. Knowing this, Reselda was hanging on every word. Just knowing she'd come back to him made her feel better about running off with a stranger.

"I promise, Kasen. I'll never forget you." There were tears in her eyes and her voice.

"I know, Reselda." He was too stoic to cry, but she could hear it in his voice. "One day I'll be long gone from this world but you remember me and you always will. Just remember that."

It was cryptic but Reselda could nearly understand what he was saying. She never got that chance to ask him to elaborate though, as suddenly he pulled her in for a tight hug. She choked a little before wrapping her own arms tightly around his middle. It felt like she'd never see him again, although she knew - somewhere deep inside her - that she would.

"Your Doctor is waiting, Ressie. Its time to go."

**?**

When Reselda got back to the TARDIS, the sun was just beginning to set and the Doctor was sat in the jump seat. He smiled sadly when she lent against the closed door, instantly seeing her red-rimmed eyes and slightly pale face.

"You know" He only blinked when her voice suddenly interrupted the silence. "The Grimaldi family - that is, my mum's family - have always believed in aliens. They're said to be descended from one, you see. No one knows what race, though." She elaborated before he could say anything. "The Grimaldi's can do all sorts - my mum used Runes to create wards, although she wasn't much more powerful than an ordinary shaman. Kasen, he can see the future. I'd never really listened and he's never really said but seeing him today..." She took a deep breath, even as his silence continued. "Its reassuring, to know that someone you trust knows for a fact that you'll see them again. Even if you don't know for sure." She stopped abruptly, opening her eyes, which she hadn't even realised she'd closed. Pushing herself off the door, she walked slowly up to where the Doctor was sat, settling herself down beside him. "My destiny is written in the stars." She told him.

He smiled at her.

"Then lets go see them."


End file.
